TITANS: Hopes are high for improvement in Trenton

TRENTON — Like last year, hopes for the capital city’s hockey club are high. This season, those expectations actually seem realistic.

After an abysmal, league-worst 2011-12 campaign, an inaugural season filled with growing pains both on and off the ice, the Titans had a full offseason to turn things around. As team president and CEO Rich Lisk pointed out at media day, the season-ticket holder base has tripled, on-ice logos are sold out and dasher board ads are nearly all gobbled up.

With all due respect to the efforts of the front office, most fans are hoping the most notable improvements come on the frozen pond itself. Seven players from last year return to this season’s active roster, with an influx of AHL talent thanks to the lockout playing a large role in seven players from last year’s team being released outright or starting the year on the reserve list or the 21-Day IR.

And now, a brief look at the 20 players who will comprise the roster for tonight’s opening game against the Greenville Road Warriors, to be held at Sun National Bank Center at 7:05 p.m..

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Goaltenders: Niko Hovinen, Jody O’Neill

The long-rumored addition of a goaltender from the Devils organization never materialized, so former Dartmouth standout O’Neill is joined by the Flyers prospect Hovinen to form the tandem. Hovinen, a 6-foot-7 Finnish-born netminder, told The Trentonian that the adjustment to the North Americanstyle of play has been a “huge” one for him.

“I didn’t expect it to be this different,” he said. “That’s probably the biggest reason I’m here instead of the Phantoms. But I’m working here every day and getting more and more comfortable.”

In Bohmbach and Hayes, the Titans get two players they actually wanted back. Last year’s leading and third-leading scorers, respectively, should receive a big boost from the addition of Akeson, who was Adirondack’s leading scorer last season. Bohmbach, who played with Akeson for a 10-game stint last year, thinks it’ll be a big help to be able to focus on just the Titans this season.

“It’s my first strictly ECHLcontract in two years,” Bohmbach said. “It does put a little bit of pressure on you. You want me to be up there, and when you get sent down it can be stressful. But this year, I can just play and have fun...but with the lockout, more scouts will be here, and it gives us more opportunities in the future.”

Goggin and Kessel — brother of Maple Leafs All-Star Phil Kessel — join a returning group of five blueliners in Trenton this season. DiLauro, a Bensalem, Pa. native who was named team captain on Wednesday, will again be the anchor of the group and is optimistic about the chances of his overhauled squad this season, specifically pointing to a newfound depth that it simply did not have last year.

“I think the league is going to be a couple notches above what it’s ever been,” he said. “We had a full offseason to get everyone in here. ...We have a lot of guys with AHL experience and a lot of contracted guys. I think it’s going to be a great start to the year. It’s not just the guys we have playing every night. We have extra guys, so if guys aren’t playing well or get hurt, we have guys that can fill in, and that’s what a real team is.”